Sex,Life & Frilly Bits

The No 1 Fashion Victim

There's been something that has been bugging me for almost a week. I spotted it in one of my regular celeb-goss blog reads, and I can't shake it because I think that this pair of jeans has to be one of the worst jeans of all time. The fashion victim is one Victoria Beckham, and the jeans are absolutely horrible. For one, she is wearing high heels under those jeans, and the hems are far too long, and they'd cause a minor mishap.

Each time I see Victoria I think, 'okay what is she wearing now, and how many ounces has she lost in order to fit into it?' It's as though her main aim in life is to squish herself into the tiniest outfit, and few outfits do her justice. She always looks like a lollypop - thin body, huge head. And I know that many publications mention her facial expression, and how dour she looks. Even Victoria has responded to such comments about looking like a 'miserable' cow, and she downplays it, saying it's the way her face is, but her face is the way it is because she is so thin and gaunt - and  it's not just her, but many women think that this a healthy look to have.

She looked much healthier (and prettier) with a few more kilograms.

Image source: Celebitchy blog

There's More to Love (and more to paint)

I read about Lucian Freud's painting, 'Benefits Supervisor Sleeping,' in today's newspapers, and amid some criticism, this painting is hailed as one of the highest priced paintings by a living artist.

Its unusual subject is unusual (perhaps) due to the high attention given to the streamlined or whippet thin model which graces fashion magazines, film and television, and as a painting it does demand another perspective. The record price, $33.6 million, is staggering but its subject matter adds a positive note. This painting reminds me of the fertility goddess fetishes that are well rounded, large breasted, with ample hips and thighs.

It's strange to see such a painting, one that may as well be from a bygone era in today's art circles fetching such a high price, and it's fantastic.
After all, when there's more to love, there's more to paint...and a little more controversy.

Bad Ink

Tattooing is considered an art, but it all depends on the subject and body placement. One of the worst tattoos I ever saw was in Newtown. It was a case of what was more repulsive: mangy dreds, or the bold black tattooed arrow -from her chest to her lower abdomen, that pointed to her koochie.

Bad tattooing is usually tacky, and contains subject matter that will automatically evolve into regret a few years later, such as having the film logo from Snakes on a Plane on your skin, or a bald Britney. Images that will always gain freak show 'what is that?' appeal in a few years time.

If you'd like to see a gallery of bad tattoo art, head here. Don't say I didn't warn you. The tackiest tattoo in the gallery, has to be the Lacoste croc logo on a pec. The guy in that image could very well qualify for Tightarse/Miser of the Week.

Greed & Stupidity

These two make for interesting bedfellows. Greed can wipe out all perspective and logic. The suburb in this story isn't that far away from me, and I wonder if the police were actually on the lookout for child porn, or whether they were looking for pirated mainstream films. If they weren't looking for the former, they were probably shocked when they stumbled on it in an open street market.

They Don't Need Rehab...

They need a dentist and a manicurist.

Eww-yuck

Race, Gender & Change

It was an interesting week in American politics, with John Edwards officially endorsing Barack Obama. Of course, this meant that should Obama gain the nomination, Hillary automatically loses the chance at vice-presidency. Well, that was my impression all the way down here where I live.

I have no idea how the election campaigns are carried out, how votes are weighed, or everything else that comes with the grand roadshow that is the presidential campaign, but it has been interesting to catch glimpses of it via ABC news (4am my time), and one of the subjects of interest was the 'race vote,' or votes based on race. The word 'race' is seldom used in Australia, and on a more scientific viewpoint, race is more a concept than a reality. Ethnicity is a better choice of word, whereas race tends to focus on visible differences. But one of the subjects this week on ABC news was the 'race vote' or the reality of people voting based on race, and it's a valid discussion point. Many people vote based on a politician's 'look' or the visible impression the politician gives.

Housemate, for example, didn't vote for Kevin Rudd, because (in his view), 'he looks like an idiot,' (based on speeches, expression, arguments and body language) and now, with the latest screw up involving Medicare (after the Australian budget and the current government's underestimation), one can be heartened to know that Australia's new government is quite inept at preparing a budget. But even so, this doesn't justify the looks argument, and it's not really about looks but body language, self-expression, deft arguments and intelligent debate - and qualifications. One thing is certain though, we don't have grand political road shows (campaigns) that travel through each state, because we are a constitutional monarchy, and have few states, but if we did have an indigenous or (visibly) ethnic PM candidate, we would enter the 'race vote' or votes based on ethnicity.

I think what surprised me (even though it didn't, due to Hillary's shambolic run, everything from the sniper fire episode, to her most recent excuse to continue going – 'for the sisterhood.'), was Edward's entering the scene. I somehow think that Hillary is still hopeful, even though the statistics indicate that she won't get the nomination, and that endorsing Obama would have meant abandoning the top job – something she doesn't desire. For her, it's the top job or nothing, which says a lot about her ambition.

I don't want to reveal who I think will win, because it may upset a few people, but I think that Hillary's run is over, and the 'race issue' is still a real issue for certain voters. And I also think that basing some part of a campaign on the Sisterhood reason is a sign of desperation. One of the negatives of the democrat campaign, the trite remarks between Obama and Clinton, was the schoolyard bickering. After all, they belong in the same political party, and such division always looks bad.

The argument of change being 'good' is often used. It was used after Iraq, during many political campaigns. Here in Australia, the majority voted for 'change,' without really thinking about the possible consequences, or delving into the ability of the contenders for the top prize. Now, after Australia based its vote on change, the federal budget is raising question marks, and one of the most significant developments, one that will affect health care. I may be forward in saying it, but health care is more important than subsidizing ISP's and telcos to develop Internet filters. Voting for 'change,' to me, is silly when it is based on superficialities. Voting should always be about the person who is better able to get the job done. In Australia's case, Peter Costello was always the better option, but the top treasury job went to Wayne Swan. The surplus that exists isn't due to the current government, it is due to the previous government, but many pro-Rudd acolytes don't discuss it, and there are going to be many changes with this new government, many of which won't be positive in the long run.

From Madam to Slave Owner

The definitions can change depending on the work conditions. An appeal in Australia's High Court concerns one Wei Tang, and while some argue that Tang's methods didn't amount to slavery, the conditions indicate otherwise:

They were told they were "contract girls" who owed a "debt" of between $40,000 and $45,000 that they had to work off (a figure much higher than they had been led to expect). This would involve providing sexual services for no payment for up to 900 men. They were housed in bedrooms in which they slept up to four at a time on mattresses on the floor. Their passports and return tickets were taken from them and locked away and their freedom of movement was restricted. They worked 10-to-12-hour shifts six nights a week just to reduce their "debt", and if they worked a seventh night could keep that money for themselves.

Servicing 900 men for no pay at all. Wow! I'd call that exploitation. If a conventional company did this, employ a person to put in the equivalent amount of hours for no pay, then they'd be in for hefty fines and prosecuted in accordance to labor laws, but Tang (and some sex lobbyists) doesn't think of herself as a slave master.

Scarlet Alliance's Elena Jeffrey's downplays the trafficking numbers, and says that all these workers are sex workers in their home country's. So what Elena? Maybe they didn't want to be sex workers to begin with, and it could very well be that the only option they had in their countries, countries like Thailand, was prostitution, but in a country like Australia, women do have more options if they have the chance to choose, and have opportunities to expand their skills. This is the side of prostitution that angers me, the notion that, 'they were sex workers before, and so what?' When the reality is that countries like Thailand don't have millions of Belle de Jours living allegedly glam lives, which is why I'm not one to be easily thrilled with anonymous call-girl biographies. They tend to spread a glamorous generalization that mutes the real issues that plague other countries with few labor laws for sex workers - which has led to a rise in HIV, among other things.

Yes, believe it or not, prostitution (and sex work conditions) does vary from one country to the next. There are women, in some parts of the world, who become sex workers because they have to, not because they want to, and this issue is seldom discussed by prostitutes or sex workers in the western world.

One would have to be an idiot not to see the elements of sex slavery in the Tang case, and the argument of 'well they were sex workers in their home land,' doesn't justify the fact that this sleazy madam exploited women for her own ends.

The Everyday Marriage

My manager was the kind of copycat who'd take any suggestion and adopt it as her own. Far from being one for teamwork, she once used one of my points as her own concept, and it wasn't anything revolutionary, or new, it was quite simple, that of a team working together being a team. If people don't help others, then the cohesiveness fails, and the team doesn't prosper.

Marriage is like work, and vica versa.

Rather than remain in a job, because of the usual excuses (bills, etc), there are moments where resignation is a goal of its own. Working toward that resignation isn't easy. It can take time, and one of the most difficult parts of separating from a job – like any relationship – is regaining one's identity. Working in a position, or within a company for a few years means adopting certain traits. The thing is, taking these company traits to another company that has a different set of values and approach, may create problems as each company is different, from its values and objects, right to its very culture.

Futuresex and Petri-Dish Bestiality: Sexual Engineering

I didn't want to be there. I'd had a late night, and didn't look forward to working with my lab partner. He and I were like oil and water; he needed to perform every procedure in order, whereas I preferred multi-tasking. Our arguments revolved around our different approaches to lab work. He'd say, 'we need to follow each step – in order,' and I would be the opposite.

"I want to actually have lunch today," I'd say, and I didn't fancy being in our molecular biology lab for longer than I needed to be. Three hours was standard. My lab partner was known for pulling four to five hour sessions.

He was comical, which lessened the annoyance, and he'd shake his head, 'tsk-tsk, Ana,' and I'd roll my eyes. What did we do in these labs? The usual DNA separation experiments, and assays, and I can't say I found it incredibly exciting. We weren't really taught about the equipment, we had to follow the notes.

One afternoon, we had a combined lab. We shared the lab with the uber brains, those studying advanced molecular biology, and after they returned from their fifteen minute introduction, the professor decided to outline the day's experiment, and like most zealous scientists, he went off on a tangent about DNA and biotechnology.

"It's all so exciting. Imagine the possibilities of combining the DNA of a rat with the DNA of a vegetable?"

And I had two thoughts during that moment: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and 'The Nutty Professor.'

It's not that nutty today. There is talk of creating chimera embryos and synthetic human beings. It can make one wonder what life will be like in fifty years time, and if reproduction will be similar to Huxley's Brave New World, a world that no longer relies on sexual intercourse for procreation. What would it mean for ordinary sexual relationships? No one can tell, but scientific ideas are always stirring debates. Even from the time I was at uni, biotechnology was viewed as the up and coming solution for many problems, and the problems weren't restricted to human health, they also extended to engineering crops and seeds.

A new Bill in the UK can alter humans. The Human Fertilization and Embryology Bill will open the door for inter-species (or chimera) embryos. The chimera embryo is produced by mixing the cells from two different organisms, and it does seem sci-fi or creepy, but many experts oppose the banning of such research, stating that it would have a negative impact on medical research for diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, among other diseases. The chimera embryo won't form modern a modern day centaur, but it does offer a lot of food for thought in relation to emotional development and intellect.

It can be called petri-dish bestiality.

There is so much more to sex, or more sexual evolution to unfold, and the current wave of scientific thought and research may provide a few surprises or shocks in the future. There has been concern over the motivation behind such research, and whether some research is aimed toward 'eradicating' homosexuality. Could there be a possibility of engineering sexuality in the near future? It may all sound like it belongs in a sci-fi story, but it is all real - which makes it scary and intriguing at the same time.

If people had a choice between the new anti-porn bill and the Human Fertilization and Embryology Bill, which one would they take? Which Bill opens the door to more interference? It's a dilemma.

Oh Cherie!

One of my compulsive online reads this week are the extracts (The Times) from Cherie Blair's biography "Speaking for Myself". There is one thing about Cherie, which distinguishes her from her counterparts. She was herself, and it appeared that she didn’t care what others thought of her. Who can forget the day she greeted a floral delivery in her nightie, with disheveled hair? The photo made world news, but it probably made UK women breath a sigh of relief, there was a woman who experienced rough nights, and wore nighties like every other woman.

Each time I remember that photograph, I laugh. I also laugh at the way style pundits made a huge deal about her ‘morning look,’ and how horrified various publications were. How could the Prime Minister’s wife answer the front door dressed like that? With hair like that? It was a classic moment in British politics. A first.

Cherie’s writing style isn’t toffee nosed. She says it like it is. She doesn’t shy away from moments, like their last day at Number 10 or the time she introduced male culture secretary Chris Smith (and his male partner) to Princess Anne:

'And this is his partner,' I continued.
'Partner for what?'
"I took a breath. 'Sex, Ma'am.' She stalked off. She knew exactly what kind of partner I meant. She was just trying to catch me out."

Oh Cherie!
One thing is (probably) a certainty. If Tony had an affair, or was busted for any extramarital leisure, she doesn't seem the type to suck it all up and smile for the cameras. She'd be the type to knee Tony in the balls during a photo call. Unlike every other smiling political wife who pretends to be in lurve and excuse bad behavior.